Railway refrigerator-car



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A. P. & D. M00. HIGGS. RAILWAY REFRIGERATOR o-AR.

Patented July 19,1881.

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RAILWAY REFRIGERATOR GAR.

Patented July 19,1881.

I II/ N. PUERS. mumo w Washington, me

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTUS F. HIGGS AND DAVID M0 0. HIGGS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY REFRIGERATOR-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,456, dated July 19, 1881.

Application filed May 5, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, AUGUSTUS F. HIGGS and DAVID MOO. HIGGS, citizens of the United States, and residents of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Refrigerator-Oars for the Transportation of Meats and other Perishable Articles of Commerce over Railwaysyof which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to furnish an improved railway refrigerator-car having large carrying capacity and strength to carry the load suspended from the roof, the construction and arrangement being such that the dead-weight shall fall below the center of gravity when loaded, thereby rendering the loaded car safe in running upon the rails; also, to furnish the car with a continuous dead-air chamber in the side and end walls thereof, extending from the door-posts on one side of the car to the doorposts on the opposite side, and a series of deadair chambers in the sub-walls on each side of the continuous dead-air chamber, and one or more dead-air chambers in the top and bottom of the car, and other appliances, whereby the car is made practically air-tight and impervious to heat and cold also, to construct and arrange the ice-racks and drip-pans so that the air from the ice is freed from moisture and distributed evenly through the carrying-space by causing a circulation of the air within the airtight car, and the drip is carried off and prevented from spilling or otherwise getting upon the floor or sides of the car.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is atop or plan view, showing the roof partially broken away. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal central section of the car, taken on line w as, Fig. 1, the running-boards being omitted. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the car, taken on the line yy,Fig. 1, showing a partial section through the ice-box and a partial section directly in front of the ice-box. Fig. etis an enlarged section of portions of the doors, showing the manner of securing the joint between the doors; Fig. 5 is an enlarged view, showing portions of the side and end walls of the car in section. Fig. 6 shows the same with the bottom or fioor and roof, showing the con- Struction thereof and the air-chambers in the walls, roof, and bottom. Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical central section of a plug to stop the mouth of the ice-chamber. Fig. Sis a perspective view of the drip-pan detached. Fig. 9 is a'vertical cross-section of the drip-pan on line as as, Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a vertical cross-section of the car, illustrating the manner of supporting a load of meat by the top of the car so that the meatshall be near the bottom and the weight of the load shall fall below the center of gravity of the car.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views.

A designates the side and endwalls of the car, B its roof, and 0 its bottom.

The side and end walls are composed of two independent sub-walls, A A, which are supported independently of each other upon the outside bottom sills, A of the car so as to leave a continuous dead-air chamber, A between them, which extends from the door-posts A on'one'side of the car around both. ends to the door-posts, upon the opposite side and from the bottom sills, A to the top plates, A which form the bottom and topot' the continuous dead-air chamber. The inside subwall is made sufficiently stout to support the roof and load and is securely braced by the necessary posts and braces to to prevent any racking of the car, the posts and braces being supported at the bottom upon the sills A and at the top by the plates A. This inside subwall is composed of an interior lining of threefourths-inch matched boards, (1., having a layer of book-binders cloth, a or cloth saturated with paraffine or other like substance secured upon the outside thereof; then one-half inch furrin gs, a are secured along at intervals and anotherlayer of book-binders cloth, aP, or cloth saturated with paraffine is stretched on the-furrings and secured thereto and to the sills A and plates A then a second series of furrings and prepared cloth, the whole being secured to the posts and braces a and to the sills A and plates A Then to the-outside of the posts and braces a another furring, 1 with a layer of prepared cloth, a ,on both sides thereof is secured, which completes the inner subwall, which is thusmade' to containa series ofair-chamb'ers orspaces between the layers of prepared cloth a? of half an inch and extend;- ing from furring to furrin g on the inside of the posts and braces and one of like character on the outside of the same; also, air-chambers or spaces of the thickness of the posts and braces, and extending from post to post, or post to brace, as they occur along the wall. The outer sub-wall is made in a similar manner, with a layer of three fourths-inch boards on the outside and two or more layers of prepared cloth a and furrings and air-spaces between on the side next to the continuous dead-air chamber A the whole being secured to the posts of the outer sub-wail. It is thus seen that the continuous dead-air chamber A which is at least one inch at the points between the posts supporting the sub-walls or narrowest points, is employed in connection with a series of lesser air-chambers in the sub-walls to exclude the heat and cold from the car.

The top of the car B is formed in a similar manner of outer portions or roof-boards, b, the ceiling or inner portion, 1), and the purlines N, with layers a of book-binders cloth or cloth saturated with parafline or its equivalent, secured to the purlines 12 plates A and curlings or rafters b with furrin gs a between such layers of prepared cloth.

The car-bottom 0 is also formed in a similar manner of the main floor c and a series of false floors, 0, having a layer, a of prepared cloth secured to each side, except the bottom one, which has the cloth only on the top side, the false floors being supported and separated by furrin gs a.

The doors D are also formed in a similar manner of outer boards, a, and prepared cloths a stretched and secured on furrings a, with airspaces between, as is also the plug D which stops the month of the ice-chamber for taking in ice at the top of the car.

In order to exclude the air at the joints around the edges of the doors D and the plug D they are provided with recesses extending all around their outer edges, in which are secured cushions (1 d, of rubber or other yielding substance, all the way round, which come in contact with the door and mouth jambs or edges, so as to render the joints, when the doors are closed and the plug applied in the mouth, air-tight.

The drip-escape pipe is provided with a trap, as hereinafter described, to prevent the admission of air into the car through it, thus making the car practically air-tight throughout and impervious to heat and cold.

An ice rack or box, E, formed of open bars 0, to give the air in the car free access to the ice, is located in each end of the car, and a drip-pan, E, is placed below the ice rack or box, and the rack and pan are separated from the body of the car by a partition, F, extending from the top of the car down to near the floor and having an opening, F, at the top to allow the air from the body of the car to pass in at the top. The bottom of the drip-pan is closed, and the valves or pipes e which convey the drip into the closed part extend down below the top of the escape valve or pipe 0 so that the accumulated drip must rise above the bottom ends of pipes 0 before escaping through pipe 6 thus preventing the admission of air into the car through said pipe 0. There are three layers of the bars a, the first secured vertically to the sides of the car and the partition F; then a cross horizontal layer, and then another vertical layer, so as to furnish a suflicient distance between to prevent the ice from wetting the sides of the car and partition by contact therewith, and also to allow a circula tion of the air between the ice and the carsides, giving the air contact with the whole surface of the ice.

The drip-pan is in itself a new device, consisting of the upper part, G, the middle part, G, and the lower part, G made of sheet metal.

(See Fig. 8.) The upper part, G, extends up above the bottom of the ice-rack and all around the outside of the lower part thereof. It is open in the center, the outer sides thereof having attached atthe bottom edge thereof an in clined gutter, g, with openings 9. The mid dle part, G, consists of a roof, 0 located below the opening in the bottom of G and upright sides a, which are united to the lower outer edges of the roof c and form a gutter in which are situated the drip-pipes 0', so that said gutter conducts the drip into said pipes and thence into the lower or closed part, G The sides 0 are provided with troughs g located directly beneath the openings g, so as to receive the drip therefrom. The lower part, G consists of an air-tight tank provided with the escape-pipe c at the bottom, and the pipes 0, arranged as shown,to carry the drip into such tank. It also has an opening, 0 made to close air and water tight and to be opened for cleaning out any sediment which may accumulate in the tank. The cold air from the ice comes down through the opening in the bottom of the part G and falls onto the roof c and thence rises up over the upright sides thereof, 0 and thence goes down to the floor of the car and under partition F into the carrying-compartment of the car. The effect of the roof e and its upright sides a is to free the air from moisture by causing it to ascend from the roof a little to get above the sides 6 before passing into the car, and the arrangement of the pan is such with relation to the ice-rack as to prevent any drip from spilling or otherwise getting upon the floor of the car, thus keeping the car as well as the cold air perfectly dry. The opening F at the top of the partition allows the warmer air at the top of the car to pass into the ice-chamber to take the place of that removed by the descent of the cold air, thus causing a circulation of the air within the air-tight car.

Secured to the inside of the car along next to the roof upon each side is a cleat or bar, t, Fig. 3, and suspended upon iron straps 1', secured to the top of the car in two rows along each side of the center of the roof of the car, are two bars, 'i, extending the entire length of the carrying-chamber. On the top of these bars and on the'bars and side cleats loose or removable rails i are placed, and to these rails the meat is hung by hooks or strings i, so as 5, to come down nearly to the floor of the car, as shown in Fig. 10. The outside pieces of meat coming against the side of the car, and the pieces being packed close together, prevent any side swinging of the meat when the car is in motion or is tipped to one side or the other. The weight of theload is thus broughtlow down in the car. The ice is also brought down as near the bottom of the car as possible. By these means the dead-weight of the loaded car I 5 is brought below the center of gravity.

Railway refrigeratorcars have heretofore been described or illustrated (but not to our knowledge made or used) representing a continuous air-chamber in the side and end walls, but not a dead-air chamber, as the outer case ofthe wall is notrepresented as being air-tight, and openings through the same into the airspace are shown, to produce ventilation of air through the air-space. Also, refrigeratorcars have heretofore been described or illustrated (but not to our knowledge made or used) representing partitions of the wall, said to be made of oiled pasteboard or woolen fabric, to show three air-spaces in the walls, but not rep resenting any of said spaces as continuing around both sides and ends of the car to the door-posts, nor that the partitions are air-tight, nor made of a material'to make them air-tight. Neither of these constructions of the wall represent our improvements, the first of which consists of two independent sub-walls made air-tight and extending vertically from sill to plate, and horizontally from the door-posts on each side of the car, so as to form a dead-air space or column clear around the car from these points, by which is meant aspace having no ventilation. The column of dead air as a non-conductor of heat and cold is destroyed by ventilation. The second of our improvements consists in placing the sub-walls the same with reference to each other, so as to form the same dead-air column between them, and further providing the sub-walls themselves with a series of dead-air spaces, so as to thereby protect the main central dead-air column against change of temperature from without or within the car and make the complete wall thus formed a more perfect non-conductor of heat and cold.

Havin gthus described ourinvention,what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. As an improvement in railway refrigeratorcars, the vertical walls A, composed of two independent air-tight sub-walls connected with each other only at the base, top, and door-posts, so as to form a continuous dead-air chamber from the door-posts on one side of the car around both ends of the car to the door-posts on the opposite side, substantially as specified.

2. As an improvement in railway refrigerator-cars, the sub-walls A A, having a series of air-chambers separated by thin partitions a form ed of book-binders cloth or cloth saturated with paraffine, or its equivalent, to render the same impervious to air, such sub-walls being connected at the base, top, and door-posts, and forming a continuous dead-air chamber, A, all the way around the car from the door-posts upon each side, substantially as specified.

3. As an improvement in the construction of the walls, roof, and bottom of railway refrigerator-cars, houses, or coolers, the partitions a composed of a layer of book-binders cloth or cloth saturated with paraffine, or its equivalent, and supported by furrings or false floors, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The doors D, having air-chambers separated by thin partitions a composed of bookbinders cloth or cloth saturated with paraffine, and the edges formed as shown, and provided with cushions d 01, substantially as and for the purpose specified. Y

5. The plug D having air-chambers separated by thin partitions a composed of bookbinders cloth or cloth saturated with paraffine, and the. edges provided with cushions d d, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. The drip-pan composed of the parts G G (:l in a refrigerator-car constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. In a railway refrigerator car, the iceboxes composed of bars 0, as shown, arranged in each end of the car, in combination with a drip-pan below the ice-box, said bars 6 being crossed to prevent the ice from coming against the sides of the car, and allow the air to come in contact with the ice on all sides, the area of the top part of the drip-pan being greater than that of the base of the ice-box, so that none of the drip shall fall outside of the pan, substantially as specified.

8. The drip-pan surrounding the bottom of 110 the ice-box, the former having an opening in the bottom to admit the descent of air, in combination with a roof, a under such opening and having upright sides 6 for drying the air, substantially as specified. 1 15 9. The drip-pan provided with a, closed tank,

G having the escape-pipe e projecting above the drip-pipes e, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

10. In an air-tight refrigerator-car, the ice- 12o rack and drip-pan arranged, as shown, relatively to each other and separated from the carrying-compartment of the car by a partition, F, extending from the top of the car toward and nearly to the floor, and having an 12 5 opening, F, at the top for causing a circulation of the air within the car, substantially as specified.

11. In a railway refrigerator-car, the bars 5 z" and removable rails 5 arranged in the roof 13c -of the car and supported substantially in the center of gravity of the car, substantially as manner and for the purpose specified. and for the purpose specified.

12. In arailway refrigerator-car, the reuiov- AUGUSTUS F. HIGGS. able rails 1, supported, as shown, in the top DAVID MOO. HIGGS. of the car, in combination with cords i for \Vitnesses: supporting the meat near the bottom of the HENRY FRAN'KFURTER,

car, packed in horizontal rows. or below the ORTON W. JUDD. 

